MatchBox Japan Cup

摘要

The 3rd and final round of this year's MatchBox Japan Cup was held on 28 September at Twin Circuit Suzuka in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The first two rounds are purely racing and held every year in March and June at Mihama Circuit in Aichi Prefecture. The final round also has some trade and autojumble stands. This year there was also an area with Minis for sale. Every MatchBox event is organised by volunteers from MatchBox Mini Owners Club of Nagoya. As always there are various categories of racing, from beginners right up to fully tuned racing Minis. At this event there is also a time trial, for the quickest single lap of the circuit, and that is open to everyone. The exciting races were action-packed this year. One corner in particular proved very tricky as many cars slid off and some hit the tyre wall. Luckily, for the marshals and spectators, it was in front of the pit lane so was easily seen and safety flags were soon shown. A few occasions resulted in red flags, when the crashed Mini could not be moved so easily, and the race was temporarily stopped while the car was cleared before racing began again behind the safety car.